CPA issues and negative review: Was my response reasonable after crypto tax troubles?

Thanks for your insight. Do you think I should have just paid the full amount since he did put time into it? And what about the office manager calling - should I take down the review or at least edit it to be less harsh?

You were right to pay for the partial work - $250 seems reasonable for the standard portions of your return. You shouldn't pay for a complete tax return when it clearly wasn't complete without the crypto transactions. Regarding the review, you have every right to share your honest experience. If the office manager is concerned about the review, they should be addressing the underlying issue of why you received incomplete service rather than trying to get you to remove accurate feedback. I'd keep the review up unless they make meaningful amends, like offering to complete your return properly at no additional cost.

How does this actually work with crypto? I've got like 300+ transactions from different exchanges and I'm completely lost. Do I still need a CPA after using this service?

Sounds interesting but I'm skeptical. I've tried several "automated" crypto tax solutions and they all messed up my DeFi transactions. Can it handle complex stuff like staking rewards and liquidity pools?

For crypto transactions, you just upload your CSV files from the exchanges or connect your wallets directly. The AI analyzes everything and categorizes transactions based on IRS guidelines - it handled my 450+ transactions without issues. You can still use a CPA afterward, but you'll have properly organized data that any tax professional can easily work with. The system absolutely handles DeFi transactions - that was my biggest problem too. It correctly identified my staking rewards as ordinary income and properly tracked my liquidity pool positions. It even flagged transactions where I was potentially missing cost basis information and guided me through fixing them.

Wait, this is actually a thing? How does it work? Don't you still have to wait on hold with the IRS regardless of who's calling?

I don't buy it. The IRS wait times are horrible for everyone. How could some random service possibly get through faster than I could myself? Sounds like a scam to me.

They use technology to navigate the IRS phone system and essentially wait on hold for you. When they finally reach a human agent, they connect you to the call. So yes, someone still has to wait on hold, but it's their system doing it while you go about your day instead of you wasting hours with a phone to your ear. It's definitely not a scam. They don't ask for any personal tax information or anything like that. They're just connecting you to the IRS - you do all the actual tax discussion directly with the IRS agent. I was suspicious too at first but was desperate after trying for days to get through on my own.

Thanks for the validation. I've already started asking around for recommendations for next year. Did you find any specific questions that helped you separate the knowledgeable CPAs from those just claiming to understand crypto?

I ask them to explain how they handle specific crypto situations that I know are tricky - like liquidity pool rewards, token airdrops, or NFT transactions. The ones who give vague answers or just say "we can handle any crypto situation" without details are the ones to avoid. The good ones will be honest about what they know and don't know. My current CPA straight up told me he specialized in DeFi and mining operations but wasn't as familiar with NFTs. That honesty was refreshing, and he ended up partnering with an NFT tax specialist for that portion of my return. Transparency about their limitations is a huge green flag.

Eh, I disagree. The CPA did complete part of the work, so paying nothing would be unfair. The $250 partial payment makes sense. And honestly, most CPAs are overwhelmed during tax season - it sounds more like miscommunication than intentional deception.

This is why I just do my own taxes now. I spent $600 on a CPA two years ago only to find a mistake that could have cost me $1200. H&R Block software is like $70 and has handled everything I've thrown at it including rental property and some basic stock trades.